Sep 30
So I was talking with a friend of mine today and he told me a story about one of his jobs.
So this guy with a house in undisclosed location was talking with his gardner and the gardner was shaking his head in some sort of disgust. My friend was walking up and discovered a decent amount of marijuana plants in the guys yard in much surprise. The last thing the owner of the home said to the gardner was, “Dont’ worry I’ll cut you some later.”
Strange…
Sep 28
I read an article on christianitytoday.com discussing 5 reasons why torture is always wrong.
I believe torture is not the first option to get information of course. If the life of one terrorist versus hundreds of people is at risk, I agree that some techniques are necessary to bring about information that will save hundreds of lives.
Read the article for yourself and let me know what you think.
Sep 28
Just wanted to let everyone I could know about Battle Cry. It is a website that is built to be much like MySpace but it is solely Christian. It challenges you to set goals and make as public as you see fit your faith and growth.
I am having our whole youth ministry sign up with it and we will continue to communicate that way versus MySpace. I will keep my MySpace to reach unsaved friends and such, but battlecry will begin to be my meet and greet online home.
My battlecry.com username is pastorjosh3 and our church is one of the Battle Cry churches in the US, Church On The Rock of Santa Clarita, CA.
Sep 25
I read the Christian Today article regarding the pope meeting with the Muslim envoys from 20 Muslim nations including Indonesia, Iraq, Iran, and Turkey.
I am struggling with the Pope having to apologize for his comments. The pope has had cartoons drawn about him in slanderous fashion, he has been called the devil from various muslim groups, the very position of the pope makes cause for body guards due to the death threats he recieves, and yet one speech from the pope and the muslim world turns upside down.
I am struggle with the fact that we have to be careful and political around the muslim community or we might get killed, tortured, kidnapped, and have burned down buildings if we dare oppose the spread of violence that the radical muslim community has brought to the world.
I have some Muslim aquaintences, and they are outraged by the the acts of violence.
Sep 22
| Everclear went somewhere most Americans would not, and in my opinion part of the moral decline of the United States and our western culture. They released a video for their song Hater in which Jesus is portrayed as a mix of Al Bundy, Ron Jeremy, and Joe Pesci.I will not narrate the whole video but let me give parents, Christians, and conservatives alike a stern warning: this video is beyond dirty, it is utterly disgusting and blasphemous. Jesus is portrayed as a drunken, lust-ridden, hateful, blasphemous, gambling, pornography-addicted character.The lead singer for Everclear, Art Alexakis, appeared on the O’Reilly Factor tonight. Art stated that his mother, a single parent, was a hardcore Christian and donated money to people like Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson. He dedicated the song and video to both of them, stating that both Falwell and Robertson are haters and that Jesus would never be associated with either of them.
Curiosity perhaps, but… Hey Art? You sound like you have a good relationship with Jesus, enough to judge these men of the cloth. I would have to say, “Art, by making this video you are someone who Jesus would hang with…” Jesus Christ said openly that He came to heal the sick and not the HEALTHY, and so Art Alexakis and the rest of Everclear, Jesus would eat and talk with you because you are actually SICK! Everclear actually allowed full-blown porn to be in their video while Jesus was the pimp… COME ON! It’s one thing to make a statement, and another to offend 85% of a nation who call themselves Christian. Everclear shame on you, attempting a publicity stunt to get your band playing huge venues again, shame on you. And yes they spent less money on this video than most others, which does not say much for the female whores in the vdeo who were obviously paid very little to do the acts they did. By the way Art, What Would Your Mother Say? |
Sep 22
I know some old cliches that offer us good advice on how to learn from our mistakes, and how to be a better person because of our trials. I have watched movies like Cinderella Man, and Schindler’s List which have compelled me to look up about my circumstances, and change the way I approach other people, but I have no other person, book, or movie change my life like Jesus Christ.
I am reading this book, A Passionate Life, and within it it talks about 8 shapes that represent 8 areas of Christian discipleship. Right now I am teaching the youth of our church about the first shape, the circle. I am enjoying it so much I hope I never end the series.
When a kairos moment comes (a moment that defies the clock, it sort of stands still) we must react one way or another. For instance the events of 9/11 caused our country to stop, learn, believe in our country, and fight the bad guy. A kairos moment is usually missed because we are too busy. Your wife asks you, “what do you think?” after she has lost a few pounds and fits into those jeans again. Right there is a small but significant kairos moment.
If you decide to push your way through and say, “Yeah, hun that’s great”, she will know you don’t mean it and perhaps get upset. If you are watching TV and you decide to continue to do what you are doing and ignore her, you crushed her, shut out a moment to build something. If you decide to stop everything, take a good look, and encourage her by telling her she is beautiful, and you give her a great big hug, you just built something good.
Now that was a small kairos moment, but what about some of the bigger, harder to handle issues in our lives. Suppose you are in line for a promotion, and you were told months ago that it would be you next. This income would set your finances in order, and give you leverage to get the new minivan you needed, the new carpet and appliances, or whatever else you have been holding off on. You decide to go ahead and get the item(s) you need and you come to work on Monday and find out the person who works under you, and has less experience gets the promotion. What do you do?
Most people would be infuriated to say the least, but a very small amount of people would obey the following scripture from Mark 1:14, 15.
“Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” NKJV
Here is the circle we are talking about right from the mouth of Jesus. John the Baptist was arrested and his followers feared he would be killed, and Jesus walks in the middle of the situation. He tells the people that the kingdom of God is within reach, if only they would REPENT and BELIEVE.
Back to the promotion situation, normally most people would sulk in depression, pretend it never happened, get bitter, live life as to “Stick It To The Man”, or take it out on the people they love the most. Crying is ok, do it! After you cry, there is a process Mike Breen calls the “Circle: A Lifestyle of Learning.”
The blue X describes our kairos moment, we either enter the circle for a great process of learning, we go backwards to where we are comfortable, or just bull down the line and ignore it. Let us just say you decide to go through the process of learning.
Now remember Jesus said to Repent and Believe and so our circle is split into two parts, repent and believe. You decide to not get too frustrated, and so you decide to take a week and observe the situation involving you being passed over for promotion.
Week two, you decide to ask the question, “Is there something I need to change about myself?” Because you can generally be your biggest fan, and biggest enemy at the same time, you decide to talk with a good friend who is not involved in the situation. This friend will tell you the truth even when it hurts.
While discussing the situation and reflecting with your dear friend, it is revealed that you have some habits, and attitudes to change. You then pray that God would give you the ability to change these areas of your life. You then plan on changing these areas slowly but surely, as you are now accountable to your friend.
Now it has been months, and the whole time your focus has been off the PROMOTION and on LEARNING.
The final area of the circle is ACT, now you can handle the next situation that arises because you have set changes in motion. I could go on about each area today, but I will not for now.
FAQ
I just read the headline on foxnews.com. The beloved Steve Irwin died on a diving expedition by a stingray. Not sure of all the info about the unfortunate event, but it is known he died due to a Stingray barb going right through his chest. He died at the age of 44.
Steve was the “king” of exposing wildlife to the couch potatoe, and became a household name. His accent, famous khaki shorts, and ability to be excited about life-threatening situations definitely brought about an awareness of animals most of us would not have been able to see.
Steve Irwin was definitely a brave individual, that made an impact on the world, and will be sorely missed.
I am reading Knowledge of the Holy and felt compelled to write some of my epiphanies once again.
God is impossible to truly know, and yet we as Christians have set out on a journey to know Him more. Philosophers and great minds have destroyed themselves over the question, “What is God like?”
Some choose to not believe on God at all, others compose for themselves a God of their choosing, and yet others are truth seekers. For those who do not believe in God at all I have true compassion. I could easily tell someone I do not believe in big trucks or cars can kill me on the freeway. As I step out onto the freeway I will soon discover the truth.
I could compose a god that is not God at all so that I feel justified and content, only to find out I wasted my time. I know, there are some who would say that I am wasting my time anyway. How deep are the risks we take in order to find God before we will believe.
Psalm 145 tells us that those who cry out for God will find Him. God is not a program you add to your computer, He is the computer. Funny how we try to find the cliche word picture to describe the attributes of God. Here is truth: We need to come to the realization that we cannot have total knowledge of who God is beyond what His Word says, that’s it.
We step away from the Bible only to risk everything.
Inventors are not necessarily smarter than all of mankind, they saw a need and thought long and hard about what they already knew. They experiment with the unknown only in the context of the known, and bring about a convenience. These same inventors would cannot create something out of nothing, they cannot create brand new thoughts.
Without God there would be no thought or words!
When an invitation is given at a local church that would prepare a persons heart for change and relationship with Jesus, we often wrestle. What are people going to think? I would have to change my life? I would have to face my friends and family? You see the invitation is to drop your invention of God and receive the One True God!
Epiphany? Truth!
Sep 22
Most of my friends understand I can be a picky eater… especially when it comes to pizza. I live in Southern California, but grew up in Jersey (Joyzee). I consider myself a bit of a pizza critic.
Strange as it may seem, I get easily offended when someone calls the good old SoCal Bread with cheese and sauce, “PIZZA”. It’s simply untrue! Let me tell you I have only been to three places in all my time here in SoCal that are worthy of the title “PIZZA”.
First of all, the pizza crust must have a crunch at the top. The sauce cannot be sweet but more like actual stewed tomato flavor, and the cheese should be firm. The slice should be large enought to fold in half, and the cheese should not stick when you do it.
When you bite into the slice, you should have to pull and bite ever so slightly. Never hold your slice with an open palm (come on!) or use a knife and fork (geez).
Now for the lingo! California peeps usually mock me when I say, “slice a cheese”. They also love to poke fun at, “I’ll order one pie to go”. All I gotta say to the mockers, don’t visit NYC and mock the lingo, it’s better to just accept it, learn it, and move on.
What do I hope to accomplish with this article? If the people of California decide they have had enough of bad “bread with sauce and cheese” and really want true pizzerias in their neighborhoods, they must speak out. Hey, we voted out a governor before his time was up, we could change the future of Pizza in California as well.
Sep 21
It’s taken me awhile to gather the words together to describe last Sunday’s loss to the Indianapolis Colts… I was disappointed with the 26-21 loss, but optimistic.
Jeremy Shockey was a gamble for playing the game, and Eli Manning had the jitters most of the game due to playing against his big brother Peyton Manning. I believe the next game against the Philly Eagles will tell us how the Giants will be playing in the future.
I love Tiki Barber, he has always been consistent, and he came through against the Colts with 110 yards rushing and 61 yards receiving. Unfortunately Barber did not score at all, but if not for him they would not have scored much at all.
The one shocker for me was second year Brandon Jacobs who rushed for 54 yards as RB2 with one touchdown. Makes me feel better knowing Jacobs is there. I was more disappointed with Plaxico Burress overall. Burress did receive the ball for 80 yards with one touchdown, but I was expecting more star-studded play throughout the night.
On defense I expected Michael Strahan and Osi Umenyiora to come through with much more pressure on Peyton Manning and Rhodes. The only Giant sack in the game was by Fred Robbins, and Pierce packed in 11 tackles. R.W. McQuarters picked up a big INT, but Eli Manning turned it over the next possession which basically made the Giant pickup worthless.
The New York Giants are coming to take what they left on the field last season, so watch out Eagles!
You are currently browsing the archives for September, 2006
